One Question, But How To Ask?
by CodeNameTargeter
Summary: Face Loran wants to propose to his girlfriend, Adra Tallon. But how the sith will he do it without offending her and getting slapped? This goes along with other stories by myself and AdraLoran. Co-written with AdraLoran! COMPLETED!
1. Take 1

Title:  One Question, but how to Ask?

Author:  NicolaAfyon (Co-Written with AdraLoran)

Summary:  Face Loran wants to propose to his girlfriend, Adra Tallon. But how the sith will he do it without offending her and getting slapped? This goes along with other stories by myself and AdraLoran. Co-written with AdraLoran! COMPLETED!

Rating:  PG

**Take 1**

Face Loran paced across his office at Wraith headquarters. He wanted to marry Adra Tallon, desperately wanted to. But the problem was that he couldn't work up the nerve to do it. So he had gone to Nicola Afyon for advice and sworn her to secrecy before he even said a word. He'd actually asked her to put him under mind control if he did propose. But Nicola had said no and that she didn't want to be blamed for forcing them into marriage. She had advised him to give Adra a practical proposal.

So here he was, still as stuck as before. Mentally, he rehearsed things that he could, would say.

Summoning up his courage, he opened his office door and headed towards the Wraith lounge. Much to his dismay, all the Wraiths minus Jade of course, were seated within, talking. Kell, Cloud, and Ryok were in one corner, no doubt discussing explosives. Bror, Elix, and Tyria, were being held hostage by Gaeriel, who was debating about yet another mindless topic.

And then his gaze fell upon the group he sought. Nicola, Asyr, and Adra were talking loudly and gesturing, the former and the latter making sarcastic remarks. Face watched for a moment or two as the "conversation" grew more and more heated. Finally, Nicola grabbed her flight helmet from the shelf behind her helmet from the shelf behind and sent Adra and Asyr's flying towards them with the help of the Force.

"Okay you two, into the simulators!" Nicola ordered. Face decided that he'd better go take Adra aside now.

Moving quickly, the tall man hurried over towards the three women. "Um, Adra, can I talk to you privately for minute?"

Asyr started object but then shut up as Nicola gave her a warning look. A slightly quizzical expression on her face, Adra nodded. "Sure," and tossed her helmet to Nicola who caught it.

Inwardly, Face cursed as the whole room grew silent as all the male Wraiths plus Nicola watched as Face he left with Adra.

Ignoring Adra's various requests for information he led into his "office" down the hall. Closing the door behind her, he took a deep breath and turned to face the love of his life.

Nervously, he motioned for her to sit. Frowning slightly, she sat at one end of the "couch." Sitting down next to her, he turned and took her hands in his. Clearing his throat, his emerald green eyes looked deeply into her blue ones.

"Adra, I truly love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. And I swear by the Force that the flyboy in me isn't talking. You're an amazing pilot, a loyal friend, and the most beautiful woman in the galaxy. I've realized over the past few weeks that we've only got one shot at life and I want to be part of yours. Adra Tallon, will you marry me?"


	2. Cut!

**Cut!**

_15 MINUTES EARLIER_

Adra Tallon glared at Nicola Afyon and Asyr Sei'lar. This was really starting to get ridiculous. "Pilot Girl, it doesn't matter what you say, B- Wings might be more high-tech, but an X-Wing will win any day!"

"Over a B-Wing perhaps, but not over an A-Wing. They're faster and as maneuverable as a TIE or clawcraft!" Nicola interjected.

"Yeah, but you can't fit two people into an A-Wing or X-Wing without it getting quite cozy in there, like you can with a B-Wing!" Asyr protested.

Annoyed, Nicola grabbed her flight helmet off of the shelf behind her and used the Force to toss Adra and Asyr their respective helmets. "Okay you two, into the simulators!"

Catching her helmet, Adra started to put it on and headed towards on of the X-Wing simulators when a strong and familiar hand reached out to stop her. Turning towards its owner, she came face to face with one Face Loran, her boyfriend, who seemed to be quite nervous.

"Um, Adra, can I talk to you privately?" he asked.

Asyr opened her mouth to object but went silent as Nicola mentally elbowed her and gave her "the look."

A tad confused, Adra turned back to Face. "Sure." Tossing her helmet back to Nicola, she followed her boyfriend out of the room. For some odd reason, Kell, Cloud, Ryok, Bror, Elix, and Nicola were all silent and watching her and Face.

This could be either good, or it could be bad, since Face was nervous. Either he was breaking up with her or -. No, she wouldn't even dare to hope.

Breathing deeply, she followed Face into his office, silently reciting the Jedi Code.  
_There is no emotion; there is peace._

_There is no ignorance; there is knowledge._

_There is no passion; there is serenity._

_There is no death; there is the Force._

* * * * *

Taking a seat as indicated, she switched sarcasm to off.

"Adra, I truly love you..." Face started to say. That was good news; he wasn't breaking up with her. She stared into those emerald green eyes, almost getting lost in them. And then, she heard the words.

"Adra Tallon, will you marry me?"

_Adra Tallon, will you marry me? Adra Tallon, will you marry me? Adra Tallon, will you marry me? Adra Tallon, will you marry me? Adra Tallon, will you marry me_? The words kept echoing in her head.

She gaped at Face for a minute. She started to give a breathless, love-struck yes, but then an image of Nicola came to her. Hmm, would she just give a breathless yes? No. Switch sarcasm to on.

She yanked her hands free and raised one, as if to slap him across the face, but then paused, hand frozen in midair. "You swear by the Force, eh? How am I supposed to take that as reassurance? You're not even Force-sensitive!"

Adra let her hand fly the back of said hand hitting him across the face. "Is that all I am? An 'amazing' pilot, a Sithin' loyal friend, and a pretty face? Gee, that makes me feel like a holostar! Not. Sorry, I'm not the type of girl who'll go running into the first set of open arms and say yes to the first proposal she gets. I mean, if you hadn't proposed in such a vapin' ridiculous way, you'd probably get a yes, but considering you've just admitted what you're really thinking about, I guess I'll just say, 'thanks Face, but let's see if you can't try doing better with the next person you ask to marry you'. Quite frankly, I don't know who you think you're in love with, but it's not this Adra Tallon!"


	3. Take 2

**Take 2**

Face listen to Adra berate him verbally. He hadn't quite expected this. He made a mental not to get back at Nicola for the "practical proposal" thing. She'd known that Adra would do this. Thinking quickly, he slipped off the couch and on to one knee before her. Retaking one of her hands in his, his left hand groped in his flightsuit pocket for a small box.

"Adra, the love of my life, the brightest and most beautiful star in the galaxy, I meant never to offend you. I live only to stay with you everyday. Could you possibly find it in your heart to forgive me for the offense you took of my words before? They were meant only as compliments for you, m'love. I had thought that you would prefer a shorter proposal without the romantic, flowery language. I see now that I was mistaken."

Finding the box, he pulled it out and held it in one hand behind his back. Deciding to lay the flowery and romantic language on thick, he continued on. "I would compare thee to the stars and moons with thee were there heavenly bodies pretty enough to describe thee, my one true love. If thou wouldst not accept mine first proposal, wouldst thou accept mine second one and this small token of mine affection here?"

The hand hidden behind his back came around, the small box in hand. Opening it, her presented it to her. A flawless Gallinore gem with an off- white Krayt Dragon Pearl on either side, was mounted on a small golden band. In plain language, a very tastefully expensive engagement ring.

Keeping the hand with the box up, he brought the hand holding her to him, kissing her hand, his eyes never leaving her face.

*Author's Note: Yes, this will make absolutely no sense unless you've read AdraLoran's _Why the Force Not?._ Yes, you should probably read my _Don't Mess With a Wraith_ too. Our stories take place in am AU. And yes, I forgot to do this before but I don't really own any of this. LucasFilms does. Oh yes, and I'm going to be nice and give Kel the credit that she deserves for this, even if I don't get it in her stories. Adra's "rant" in chapter 2 was written by her, since Adra is her character and could do much better at it than I have. And yes, these chapters are short, and yes this will be a mere 4-chapter story. It was written because Kel bribed me with 2 new chapters for WTFN. Anyways, happy reading!


	4. And that's a Take!

(Author's Note: Yes, this chapter was written by AdraTallon, excuse me AdraLoran. Incase you hadn't already guessed, Adra Tall- I mean Loran, is her character. So without further blathering on my behalf, read on!)

**And that's a Take!**

Though she was non-the-less pleased with the shock that coursed momentarily through Face's mind, she couldn't help wondering if she'd just broken his ideals on wanting to marry her. Of course, the fact that Nicola had been a bit more reserved about Face asking her for a private word might have had something to do with the fact she might've known. If Nicola had told Face to do something stupid like what his proposal was, she was going to be giving a few choice words to her. But those thoughts were driven out of her head by the fact that Face was suddenly on one knee in front of her. When he picked up her hand again, she didn't even think to keep up her 'annoyed' act and take it back.

While part of her mind began nagging at her that she'd just slapped him across the face, the other part was blissfully offering it's reassurance that he hadn't been 'put off' by it because wasn't he still in the same room as her with the same look in his eyes? Unconsciously the other part of her mind agreed, but at this point she was past the point of listening and caring. Hope flickered over the flame that had been momentarily put out, daring her to believe that Face wasn't put off that easy. However badly he made remarks, no matter the situation, Adra knew he wasn't a quitter.

As Face began to speak again, she began to fight the smile that was trying to force it's way out onto her face. While Face might've been a holostar who wouldn't think about being nervous before the holorecorder, she had to grin mentally at being able to put him through the nervous loop in just a simple thing as proposing to her. He could definitely do with some lessons, but technically it wasn't her place to speculate. Whether the reason she couldn't speculate was because she probably wouldn't do any better or because as he finished his first few sentences she was nearly choked on emotion, she didn't really know or care.

Yes, she most certainly could find it in her heart to forgive his 'offensive' words. Why she had even thought of being sarcastic with him, she couldn't fathom. In truth, she wouldn't care if his proposal was only four words long or if it were four thousand. Either way, her answer would be yes.

Whether she wanted them to or not, tears started to well up in her eyes, but she didn't look away from his face, afraid that if she did she might find all this a horrible dream or wish that her mind had somehow concocted into making her think it was real.

Face's words of "I would compare thee to the stars and moons with thee were there heavenly bodies pretty enough to describe thee," were enough to spark a laugh from her and by the time he'd finished his sappy and elaborate diction, she was debating slapping him again for using such a play on words or simply kissing him. Both thoughts were driven from her frantically attempting-to-work-mind as he brought his other hand from behind his back.

The ring inside was, to say the least, probably the most expensive thing she'd seen on close contact before. While she wouldn't say she was a poor kid growing up who had joined the New Republic Forces to merely get a look at the galaxy, she wouldn't jump straight to having a limitless supply of credits. In truth, she'd forgotten Face had been a holostar. All of that just didn't seem to tip the scales towards liking him or not. As he kissed her hand, her thoughts seemed to come together. Quickly she used the arm connecting them to pull him up from his position of kneeling, her eyes locked on his.

"You're worse than a Gamorrean," she muttered softly, then her voice boldened as she answered his repeated question. "You sithing koochoo, of course I'd accept you! I would've accepted your first proposal too! Oh... and Face? If that's a _small_ token of your affection, I'm afraid to know what you'd consider average." And with that, she linked her arms around his neck and kissed him.


	5. Reactions

**Reactions**

As Face reopened the door into the Wraith lounge, nine heads looked up and turned towards them. The other three ladies were obviously in on the "secret" now.

Kell and Nicola glanced down at Adra's left hand, which was entwined in Face's right. Grins leapt to their faces. Nicola gave Kell a slight nudge with the Force, a small one that probably wasn't needed.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Kell said, standing up on a chair, an even broader grin on his face. "I present the future Mr. and Mrs. Loran!" Grinning insanely, he started to clap, the other Wraiths following suit.

Adra blushed for a moment before returning to the normal Adra. Stalking over to Kell, she pulled him down off the chair onto the floor, the big man remembering his hand-to-hand training just in time, narrowly avoiding injury. Getting back up, he mock glared at Adra.

"Sorry for trying to help there, Computer Girl."

Adra glared at him. "Yeah, sorry my ass. You're as sorry as Luke Skywalker was to see the second Death Star blow up. You'll be a lot sorrier when I get done with you," she paused for a moment, a new idea coming to her. "Or maybe I should return the favor?" The typical smile she wore when she wanted to cause trouble abruptly appeared on her face. "Like, maybe clear up some other people's misunderstandings about you and Tyria Sarkin, for example?"

Kell's mouth dropped open in shock. "That's so not fair!"

Adra rolled her eyes. "Really now? As Nicola once verbalized very plainly, life isn't fair."

"Did you have to tell everyone about Tyria? Couldn't you just pick on someone like Ryok, Elix, or Cloud?"

"I could, yes. But Elix and Ryok don't like anyone yet and you'd kill Cloud if I elaborate on him."

Kell looked suspiciously at her, "Why would I kill Cloud?"

"Gee, perhaps because he's-how should I say this?- in love with your sister?" Cloud chose that moment to disappear, shooting a murderous glance at Adra.

* * * * *

Face headed towards Nicola. "Thanks for that wonderful advice,"

Nicola looked up innocently at him. "No charge." Adra came over, her expression between glee and anger.

Using the Force so no one else would hear her words, Adra said _I figured it was you. Thanks to your 'advice' I nearly made the worst mistake of my life. And that includes firing a Sithin' blaster at my father with an __Imperial__Academy__ watching._

_That's a mistake?_ Nicola asked silently, raising an eyebrow.

Adra rolled her eyes. _You know what I mean. I'm going to get you Afyon._

_You mean you'll try to get me, Loran._ The two grinned at each other, and then turned their attention back to one in shock Kell Tainer.

* * * * *

Kell stood there frozen in shock. He was going to kill Adra Ta- Loran. He was going to kill Cloud Ritril too. He and Tyria Sarkin, not his sister Tyria, hadn't planned to make their relationship public for another couple days. Sometimes, he thought that there were really five demolitions experts in Wraith Squadron. Three dealt with things that literally blew you up and the other two dropped bombs about your life right when you really didn't need them to.

And then he remembered the other thing that Adra had said. Cloud was in love with his sister. As Kell saw it, he had two options, either he could blow Cloud up, or he couldn't. Blowing Cloud up would be the easy way out, of course he'd most likely get a court martial for it but at least he wouldn't have to worry about his sister. Not blowing Cloud up complicated things a bit. He'd have to exercise an extremely large amount of self-control if Tyria return his affections. While many said that he was a man who only loved explosives, he was, as some said, "overly protective" of his little sister.

Out of habit, he started to toss a detonator back and forth from hand to hand, trying to decide. To blow Cloud up, or to not blow Cloud up.

* * * * *

Adra flicked her comm unit on, calling Tyria Sarkin over to Wraith headquarters. Glancing over, she saw Tyria Tainer sitting with her head on the table in front of her. Adra looked over at Gaeriel.

_Why don't you go get Cloud?_ she asked through the Force. Gaeriel nodded and disappeared, coming back with Cloud in tow just as Tyria Sarkin came through the door to the Wraith lounge. Dragging Tyria Sarkin over towards Tyria Tainer, she spoke to them both through the Force.

_Now both of you, Tyria Tainer and Tyria Sarkin, listen up and listen good. Tainer, I suggest you go give your brother an opinion on the matter, even if it's not what he wants and Sarkin? If need be, try to give him something else to think about than blowing people up._ Adra closed with the Nicola tactic of pushing people with her mind.

Tyria Tainer looked helplessly over at Adra. "Umm, sounds great, except I have no idea."

Adra rolled her eyes and said, _That's__ nice, make something up or Ill plant something in your head._

"Fine, how about I don't want to date anyone."

_That works, just make sure that Kell doesn't blow anyone up in the process._

"That's Tyria's job."

Tyria Sarkin shrugged at Tainer's comment and walked over to where Kell was playing with his detonator, her eyes following it as it went from hand to hand.

Kell's gaze was fixed at some point on the floor as he contemplated how to answer his own question. Tyria watched the detonator for a few more seconds before grabbing it out of midair. Kell's head shot up to yell at whoever had taken the detonator but it closed abruptly as he saw it was Tyria Sarkin.

Smirking slightly, she said, "That's what I thought. Now, you're going to let Cloud enjoy his little crush in peace without blowing anyone up, got it?"

Kell nodded numbly and let both Tyria's remove all explosives and blasters from him.

* * * * *

And so, the Wraiths returned back to what they'd been doing before, what'd just happened really wasn't that odd for Wraith Squadron. After all, their slogan was "Pretty, what do we blow up first?"

Adra talked with Nicola and Asyr for a few minutes, then a sudden idea came across her head. This idea effectively wiped out any thoughts on her current conversation. A smile began to creep across her face and absently she excused herself from the discussion.

She walked up behind Face as he talked to Elix about random tidbits of information, like squadron security, for example. Resting one elbow on his shoulder, she places her chin on top of her own arm, waiting for the conversation to pause. When it did, she grinned slightly, then shared her idea.

"You know, Face, you've never met my parents," she began. "My mother always told me she wanted me to marry someone like you until I was about nine years old. I think we should go...er...'enlighten' them."

(This story is continued in AdraLoran's "Let Downs" where Adra and face go meet Adra parents...)


End file.
